Ken Block

The Republican candidates running for governor took part in a special, live edition of The Political Roundtable. Ken Block and Allan Fung answered questions from our moderators and asked each other questions.

You may be fed up with Rhode Island politics. But RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay says now is no time for Rhode Islanders to retreat into a cocoon of apathy.

It’s the high season of summer in our corner of southeastern New England. A time of blue skies, fluffy whipped cream clouds and sun-washed surf. It’s what many of us consider our best season. Proust had his madeleines. Rhode Island natives have our childhood memories stirred by plates stacked high with steamers, saugys and clambakes on the beach.

From the No Republican Ever Lost a Gubernatorial Primary Vote by Slamming the RI General Assembly Department: Cranston Mayor Allan Fung blasted the Assembly in a campaign press release today, saying the annual late rush to legislation created too many ``missed opportunities for Rhode Island.’’

State Republican Chairman Mark Smiley joins Political Roundtable this week to discuss the GOP gubernatorial primary between Allan Fung and Ken Block; the budget signed into law by Governor Lincoln Chafee; the outlook for electing more Republicans to the General Assembly; and the latest developments on 38 Studios.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Block touted his status as a political outsider, while GOP rival Allan Fung used a televised debate Tuesday to highlight his experience as the mayor of Cranston. The forum was sponsored by the Providence Journal and Channel 12.

Fung and Block each argued that their separate backgrounds make them qualified to put Rhode Island on a stronger path to the future. Block said his business experience and distance from politics makes him the better choice.

Providence – It was Mr. Inside, Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, against Mr. Outside, Barrington businessman Ken Block, as the two Republican candidates for governor clashed in the first televised debate of a campaign in which neither candidate has been shy about criticizing each other in the early going.

Rhode Island’s modern political history is filled with bitter Democratic primaries for governor. But RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay says this campaign season it is the Republicans who are bashing each other.

Rhode Island voters have not elected a Democratic governor since 1992, when Bruce Sundlun decisively beat Republican Betty Leonard. There are many factors contributing to this Democratic Statehouse futility.

Almond says he reached out to Fung after being unimpressed with a recent TV appearance by Fung’s GOP rival, Ken Block. Almond says it’s not realistic to think Block can cut a billion dollars from the state budget over four years. The former governor said Fung’s experience as a mayor is what sets him apart.

Second Congressional District Republican Rhue Reis joins Political Roundtable this week to discuss his challenge to Democratic Congressman Jim Langevin; arming URI police; the intensifying GOP gubernatorial primary between Ken Block and Allan Fung; and the outlook on litigating the 2011 overhaul of the state pension system.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Block used a Statehouse news conference Wednesday afternoon to present a hat trick of related assertions: 1) Rhode Island Democrats are bad for previously supporting former House Speaker Gordon Fox; 2) rival GOP candidate Allan Fung is wrong to accept campaign contributions from members of the police union Fung negotiates with as mayor of Cranston; 3) all this, combined with Block's distance from politics as usual, makes Block the embodiment of change in the race for governor.

A new Brown University poll shows Democratic gubernatorial candidates Angel Taveras and Gina Raimondo locked in a virtual dead heat, with Clay Pell lagging behind in the race. The poll (albeit from a tiny sample size of 86 somewhat or very likely GOP voters) shows a similar scenario with Republicans Ken Block and Allan Fung.

The Rhode Island Republican Party is backing up the GOP’s two gubernatorial candidates in saying that the state pension dispute should be resolved in court. Two of the state’s leading Democrats still support the push for a settlement between the two sides

A proposed pension settlement unveiled in February was cast in doubt Monday when one of six groups that have to offer initial approval rejected the deal. State GOP chairman Mark Smiley said he agrees with his party’s gubernatorial candidates that the pension conflict should be decided in court.

In a preview of things to come as Rhode Island's Democratic primary grows more intense, the campaigns of Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and state Treasurer Gina Raimondo are trading sharp jabs over the handling of the high-stakes state pension conflict.